The Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 18), August 31, 2025

This week’s passages all share the common thread of encouragements toward humility, hospitality, generosity, and care for the poorest among us. Moreover, these passages represent examples of speaking those encouragements to every strata of society.
Psalm 112 seems to assume a societal position of some means and status. (“It is good for them to be generous in lending, and to manage their affairs with justice…” and “They have given freely to the poor…”) A process-relational read of Psalm 112’s encouragements helps us to see the truth that, as the Psalm begins, “Happy are they who… have great delight in [YHWH’s] commandments!” The joy comes from freely choosing to follow God’s calls, with purpose and intention, reveling in the lure they exert on us. This is less an appeal to moralism on behalf of humility, hospitality, generosity, care for the poorest, and more an appeal to the self-evident good of those activities. (“For they will never be shaken…” and “They will hold their head with honor…”) In other words, we are all relationally connected. The neighbor’s good is intertwined with the self’s good. In particular, the neighbor-of-less-mean’s good is intertwined with the self’s good.
Jesus’ teaching in Luke 14, which is essentially a long midrash on today’s Proverb (25:6-7), pushes Psalm 112’s message to those of means and status a bit further, and also includes some broader appeals to what is sometimes called today “the professional managerial class” of society (who are not quite the richest of rich, but who feel the constant pull to align themselves with the rich rather than with the poor — to their detriment, if all of this talk of the intertwined-ness of neighbor’s good and self’s good is true). Again, it is striking how Jesus appeals not to morality, but to the self-evident good of what he is encouraging. Obviously, you want to be exalted, not humbled, so… listen to this!
Another striking thing is the assumption behind Jesus’ teaching that to be repaid is unfortunate. It feels to me similar to his Matthew 6 encouragement to not practice righteousness with the goal of being honored by others because that means you will have “received your reward in full”. Isn’t it fascinating that Jesus doesn’t conclude with “because you’re better than that and you should deprive yourself of the need for any reward”? Isn’t it fascinating that he still appeals to a reward? The upshot for Jesus in Matthew 6 and Luke 14 is not moral superiority, the upshot is still a reward; it’s just a question of which reward is better: a return invite from someone wealthy or deferred repayment at the “resurrection of the righteous”. What do we make of this? I suppose I can imagine a mob boss who deals in favors operating with the philosophy that it is better to have someone “in your pocket” than for them to repay you because then you no longer have leverage over them. I don’t think that’s what Jesus has in mind here, but then what is he driving at?
It’s helpful to consider what 1st century Jews believed about the “resurrection of the righteous” — it’s not the Modern American anachronisms we often paste onto the concept about going to heaven rather than hell after you die. The hope for the resurrection of the righteous was about a longing for a someday cosmic justice, when God will wipe every tear from every eye, when the mighty will be cast down and the poor will be lifted up, when your beloved dead will be raised and you will see them again. By many indications, Jesus believed this was an imminent reality, so his talk of the “resurrection of the righteous” should not be understood as minimizing here and now experience (as though that will pale in comparison to one’s eternal heavenly existence). Rather, it should be understood as Jesus putting his finger on the urgency of something different.
Perhaps this is a clue to the self-evident good Jesus discerns is so needed by those of relative means and status who are able to give luncheons and dinners: actual empathetic connection with other human beings (especially those of less means and status), rather than transactional arrangements where I invite you to my party if you invite me to yours. Oh, how we know in the modern world that a life spent focused on transactional arrangements only gets one so far! Better is the life spent prioritizing genuine relationship, care, generosity, hospitality, humility.
On the other side of the societal spectrum from those throwing luncheons and dinners is the assumed position of those receiving the letter to the Hebrews. We have here a group facing persecution, uncertainty, and fear. They are not the professional managerial class; the are not in power; they are contending with those in power. And yet, the encouragements in today’s passage from Hebrews are the same: humility, hospitality, generosity, and care for the poorest. Yet again, the primary appeals are to the self-evident good of these activities, because they align with the already-inter-relatedness of all people. The Good Life is not distancing ourselves from those most persecuted among us (those in prison, those being tortured); the Good Life is leaning into inter-relatedness: remembering those most persecuted among us as though we are there with them.
A footnote: Also worth noting from a process-relational perspective is this Hebrews selection’s famous musing that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” When this scripture is employed carelessly, an unhelpful picture of a distant, impassible God can be reinforced for people in churches. However, in the context of Hebrews 13’s other declarations of what God is like (e.g. the one who says “I will never leave you or forsake you,” and “my helper“ with whom I need not be afraid), this musing can instead paint a picture of a close God, incredibly responsive to our immediate needs (like those of the persecuted audience of Hebrews), because of the sameness throughout time of this God’s essence, which will never turn away from love.

Vince Brackett pastors Brown Line Church, a progressive Christian community with a healthy sense of humor and humility, named for Chicago’s Northside “L” train. His background is in education and he is especially interested in the intersection of theology and sociology. Things that bring him joy include: playing guitar and singing with his wife, following the NBA and English Premier League, diving deep into “hero’s journey” stories, and working with audio/visual technology. He and his wife (and their four kids) have enjoyed living communally with housemates for the last 12 years.